Tek Ma'tek
by FantomoDrako
Summary: Ratchet's quest to locate the Lombaxes takes him and Clank far beyond known space into uncharted territory. What will our heroes discover way out where no one dares to venture?


**A/N:** Yes, I know - _another_ one! I can't help myself you see. This time I bring you something different: A Ratchet and Clank/Stargate SG-1 crossover! This is set after A Crack in Time and before All 4 One for R & C. For SG-1 it's set after Daniel returns from his ascension and gets his memories back in season 7.

This is a joint effort between Time Lord Ash and myself. I'm doing the R & C side and Ash is doing the SG-1 parts. I do know Stargate and he knows R & C, but it's easier for both of us this way.

**Time Lord Ash:** Hello readers, this is my first published fanfic so I hope that you'll go easy on me. This is the first fic to actually be posted out of the several that FantomoDrako and I have started writing together over the last couple of years so I would like to thank the lovely FantomoDrako for not only pushing me to continue writing, but also for being very patient with me for all of this time.

I am a big Stargate fan but my writing skills are still being honed so I apologise for any errors that you may find in my characterisations or descriptions. This is very much a learning experience for me and I will greatly appreciate any constructive feedback that you can give.

Once again, thank you and I hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** Neither me or Time Lord Ash own either of these works. We are simply borrowing characters and making no profit.

"Speech

'_Thoughts'_

* * *

**Chapter One: Remoc**

Space.

It is big, it is black and it is beautiful. If you were flying around in it, hyperspace or subspace, the views were breathtaking. After a while, however, every planet you passed tended to look the same and the pinpricks of light, distant galaxies yet to be fully explored and chartered became simple bright dots in a never ending background.

Ratchet had gotten used to the amazing sights long ago after he had first left Veldin. It was not sufficient enough to distract him and he was not fond of cryosleep, all of which led to a rather boring trip. There was nothing good on the holo-vid, though Clank had eagerly watched a couple of Robochef episodes. They were repeats but the small robot didn't mind.

The holo-vid had been silent for a while now and Ratchet's bored gaze rested on a nearby planetoid. "You know, the urge to say 'are we there yet?' is becoming unbearable," he suddenly remarked.

"I do not understand why you are so reluctant to engage in cryosleep," Clank commented. "Aphelion would land somewhere before her fuel became depleted and we crashed if that is what you are concerned about."

"I'm perfectly capable on autopilot," Aphelion said, her synthetic female voice coming from a speaker grille on the dashboard.

Ratchet smiled and shook his head. "I know, I trust you both completely. I'm just not comfortable with it; I can't explain why."

"Would you like me to land somewhere so you can stretch your legs?" Aphelion asked. A map of the immediate vicinity popped up on the screen and several of the closest celestial bodies appeared as flashing dots. "I'm sure you'd feel better after a breath of fresh air."

"That sounds great," Ratchet agreed with a relieved sigh. "Which is the nearest planet with a nice, breathable, non-toxic atmosphere? I don't mind my O2 mask, but I'd rather take that breath of fresh air without it."

The map zoomed in to one of the blinking dots and a brief summary of the planet, based on whatever scans Aphelion could conduct at this range, appeared beside it. Ratchet glanced over it and smiled. He twitched his fingers, adjusted his grip on the steering controls and angled Aphelion towards the chosen planet.

The planet in question looked fairly average: patches of blue, green and brown partially hidden beneath spreads of white. They entered the atmosphere and were just above the cloud layer when Aphelion beeped. "I am picking up a strange energy reading similar to raritanium," she informed her pilot and passenger. "Do you want to check it out?"

Ratchet pondered on it for a moment. "I could use some for another small upgrade... Right, we'll check it out at least. You never know, it could be useful," he said.

"Wait a moment," Clank said quickly. "Aphelion, you said it was _similar_ _to_ raritanium. Could you perform an analysis scan?" Ratchet raised an eyebrow but kept quiet.

"Affirmative," the ship answered. "Substance is a heavy element not listed in my databanks. From what my scans can reveal, this mineral seems capable of boosting the output of certain energies."

"Sounds a lot like raritanium alright," Ratchet said as he turned to Clank, his intention plain on his face.

The little robot looked at his friend and shook his head slightly. "If you must," he said somewhat wearily. It was not exactly the break he and, he was sure, Aphelion, had in mind. Whatever happened to good old fashioned strolls through the countryside?

Ratchet grinned and steered his ship towards the energy reading. It did not take them long to locate it and Ratchet's eager look faded to one of confusion.

There were figures on the ground, about fifteen or so from what he could make out. They seemed to be struggling with each other in front of a large circular ring that stood upright in the ground. Four of them were dressed in green while the others, numbering a dozen, were dressed in black and silver clothing that looked somewhat ceremonial.

"I wonder what that's about," Ratchet remarked, staring curiously at the figures.

The words had barely left his lips when the entire group seemed to register Aphelion's presence. Almost as one they looked up at the small craft. The four in green didn't stare for long. While the dozen in ceremonial uniforms still had their attention fixed skyward, the four in green brought their weapons to bear and fired, instantly downing four.

"They don't look like any gun I've ever seen before..." the Lombax said while trying to make sense of the situation. Were they after whatever gave off the energy reading too?

Clank turned to his furry friend. "Since I am unsure who to assist, perhaps we should leave before _we_ become a target."

A blast of energy whizzed by, only a foot away from the hull. "Great idea!" Ratchet said, tilting the ship's controls. Aphelion began listing heavily to one side to present a smaller target. Two more blasts flew by, followed by a muted bang and a shudder that ran through the whole ship.

"Right wing has been damaged. Repeat: right wing has been damaged. Unable to maintain altitude, please prepare for crash landing," Aphelion announced, sounding a bit detached about the whole thing.

Ratchet stared at the flashing red message the screen displayed. "Oh crap! Hold on, Clank!" he shouted as he wrestled with the controls.

The ship took a sharp dive, smoke trailing from the damaged wing, and began spinning in a fast downward spiral. Clank gripped the edges of his seat tightly as Ratchet desperately tried to get the ship somewhat level. "Aphelion, manoeuvring thrusters!" he barked out.

The thrusters engaged with a small splutter, slowing down the turbulent spin. Ratchet pulled back hard on the controls and the nose slowly became more parallel with the ground instead of aiming directly at it. Nonetheless, the ground rushed to greet them and they ploughed into it with considerable force, sending dry dirt, bits of clay and rocks flying.

Ratchet's head had snapped forward and banged into the dashboard in front of him. When Aphelion came to a halt from her wild skid, Clank looked over and found the Lombax slumped in his seat. The little robot was perfectly fine, not even a scratch.

He unbuckled his seatbelt and clumsily scrambled across the seat to his friend. "Ratchet? Ratchet, are you okay?" he asked anxiously, laying one tiny metal hand on the Lombax's arm. His anxiety grew as Ratchet didn't respond. Clank looked around as footsteps and voices surrounded the downed vessel.

He frantically reached for the console to try and lock them out but he was too slow. Something knocked on the windscreen and the cockpit cover rose with a pneumatic hiss, revealing four tall figures dressed in black and silver ceremonial-looking armour. They were each holding a strange staff and Clank concluded that the staffs were the weapons responsible for bringing the last Lombaxian ship down.

One of the tall figures said something, jabbing his staff at Ratchet and Clank imperiously. The little robot had never heard the language before and the translators he and Aphelion possessed seemed unable to translate the foreign tongue. Not only was their language apparently unknown, Clank could find no information or references about their race or species.

He wasn't that surprised, they _were_ in completely new territory.

"Shel na kree!" the figure repeated more aggressively.

"I am sorry, but I do not understand," said Clank in the common tongue.

The figure looked surprised for a moment before frowning. "You will come with us," it said.

They spoke the common tongue even all the way out here, huh? Clank filed that titbit of info away.

"You and your companion, if it's alive, will be taken to see Lord Ba'al. Your ship will also be taken," the figure announced.

It sounded male, so Clank figured it was probably safe to address it as 'he'. "Why did you shoot us down? Did we break some rule or law that I am unaware of, sir?" he asked, raising his hands in the universal gesture for 'I surrender'.

"You are trespassing upon Lord Ba'al's territory. Your fate now depends entirely upon his wishes," the man replied, jerking the staff backward and prompting Clank to move.

The small robot reluctantly hopped out of the cockpit, the staff still trained on his shiny torso. Two figures reached in and grabbed one of Ratchet's arms each, hauling the unconscious Lombax up and holding him suspended between them.

His head lolled onto his chest and Clank's concern for him rose. A thin trickle of bright red blood could be clearly seen snaking its way down his golden-furred face.

Now that he was outside the ship, Clank could see the four dressed in green had been captured, one of them knocked out. Two of the injured man's comrades were forced to carry him between them.

"Jaffa, move out!" commanded the one aiming at Clank. He was obviously the leader of these 'Jaffa', if that's what they were. Perhaps the word was simply a command in their native tongue. He filed it away as well.

The group marched off at as fast a pace as was possible with around half of them burdened by wounded. Clank frowned grimly, wondering what was in store.

* * *

In a room deep inside a military base buried an untold length beneath a mountain there stood a large metallic ring. It dominated the landscape of what would have otherwise seemed like a more or less ordinary room; well ordinary for a military base anyway. The alien markings that covered the ring, as well as its size, gave one a feeling of fear and awe; foreboding and adventure. Even to someone unacquainted with the awesome and awe-inspiring piece of technology that is the Stargate, the giant metal ring gave off a feeling of majesty and power.

Col. Jack O'Neill stared up at this wondrous device from the base of the ramp; it was hard to believe that less than a decade ago he'd been completely ignorant of its existence. _'Life was a hell of a lot less complicated then,' _he mused to himself. He'd changed a lot since then of course; he'd experienced things which most people couldn't dream of and he'd learned so much about both the universe and himself. He gave a smile as he thought of how much the gate had changed him since that first day that he arrived at Cheyenne Mountain, he felt like a completely different man now.

He broke himself out of his pensive state and turned towards Carter as she entered the room, adjusting a strap on her vest as she went. "All ready sir?" she asked a little distractedly as she continued to focus on the stubborn strap.

"Well of course I am. After all, it's just another day at the office isn't it? You know, ordering some stationary, filing some paperwork, orchestrating a search and rescue, getting caught by clichéd bad guys; that kind of stuff. Oh, and if we're really lucky we'll probably get killed once or twice."

Carter, appearing to have won her battle with the strap, looked up at O'Neill with a smile. "But you know you wouldn't have it any other way, would you sir? I suppose you could always try to get transferred to an office job."

O'Neill gave a small thought about how Carter's smile matched her short, blonde hair before shaking himself out of it. "Funny Carter, really funny. I'll French Kiss a Goa'uld before I move into an office."

Just then the remainder of SG-1, Daniel and Teal'c, entered the gate room having just come from changing into their standard green SGC uniforms and vests. "Ok, so we're ready?" asked Daniel.

O'Neill gave a glance up to the observation area, "Ok let's move out. Dial the gate."

The familiar voice of General Hammond came over the speaker from the observation window, "Now SG-1, remember if you haven't located SG-10 in ten hours then you are to return to base."

O'Neill looked up at his CO's face and said, "Don't worry sir, we'll be back before you've even had a chance to miss us."

Ignoring O'Neill's sarcasm, General Hammond gave his final message, "God speed SG-1." With that, the gate clunked as the inner part of the ring began to spin inside its track.

"Chevron one encoded," spoke the also familiar voice of Walter, one of the gate technicians.

As the gate span Daniel turned to Carter. "So, just to make sure we're all clear on this the gate on P3X-279 is located inside a mountainous, rocky canyon right?"

Carter responded with the usual air of knowledge as she always did, sounding well informed but not smug or pompous. "Yes, the M.A.L.P telemetry showed a canyon with high, rugged mountain walls. SG-10 was able to find a pathway that led up the canyon walls and set off to explore the local area."

At this point O'Neill chipped in. "Yeah, but seeing as they were due to report in over eight hours ago, I'd say that something kinda shady happened to them. And I'm guessing that whatever it was probably had a snake in its head."

At this point the final chevron locked into place, with Walter confirming this less than second later. "Chevron seven...locked." A large blue and white pulse of energy launched out of the gate as a wormhole was established.

"But that is what is most unusual O'Neill..." spoke Teal'c in his deep, flat voice, "there appeared to be no Jaffa guards at the gate." The team held the weapons at a standby position and slowly began moving towards the gate.

"Yes, but I suppose with the gate being in such an awkward position maybe whoever's in charge decided to plant their guards above the gate. After all, that would be a better and more strategic idea wouldn't it?" Daniel made a very good point, and O'Neill wholeheartedly agreed. The four adventurers stopped mere inches from the rippling wormhole before O'Neill tuned to speak one last instruction.

"Ok, well there's a pretty good chance that we're going to be walking right into an ambush then, so be ready to take cover and return fire and as soon as we arrive."

"I thought so too sir, but I scanned the surrounding area with the MALP and I couldn't find any signs of movement in the canyon itself or on top of the surrounding walls. I think that for one reason or another the gate's been deserted." This was one of the first things that Carter had thought of and had made sure she analysed as much of the surrounding area as the MALP would allow.

"Well maybe whoever's behind SG-10's disappearance only has limited man power so they're keeping their Jaffa close to their base of operations. That's if it is a Goa'uld that we're dealing with," Daniel theorised.

Daniel was answered by the calm, deep voice of Teal'c. "That is a very real possibility Daniel Jackson. We have encountered such situations before, but O'Neill is right that we keep our guard on high alert."

O'Neill thought it best to put an end to this conversation and get on with the mission at hand. "Just be ready to fire if necessary. Once we've made a sweep of the surrounding area we'll locate the pathway and work our way to higher ground. Let's move out."

Finally Carter, Teal'c, Daniel and O'Neill stepped through the gate, the viscous liquid rippling as each member passed through. The shimmering surface finally became still before dissipating all together in a bright burst. And with that SG-1 was gone.

* * *

Colonel O'Neill stepped out of the Stargate and onto the surface of P3X-279, immediately raising his weapon. He still wasn't 100 percent comfortable with wormhole travel but he'd become quite acclimatised to it and found it easy to enter straight into action after exiting a gate.

Taking in the surroundings, he made a panoramic scan of the area as he slowly walked forward, past the Dial Home Device. Daniel, Teal'c and Carter were all doing likewise, scanning the canyon as well as the mountainous cliff faces that towered over them. Together the four team members had every direction covered and they made their scans with precision deserving of their status as an elite military team.

The terrain was much like they'd been told in the mission brief; the gate was in a long, relatively narrow and deep canyon that seemed to stretch for quite some distance both ahead of and behind the gate. Forming the walls of the canyon were rugged cliffs that were covered in sheets of jagged rock that looked to be the result of years of erosion and rockslides. In short it was a rugged hole in the ground that appeared to offer little chance of escape.

After being suitably convinced of their safety, O'Neill gave the order for his team to stand down. "All right, looks like we're clear. But don't let your guard down too much; we're still sitting ducks until we find that pathway that SG-10 reported."

Daniel immediately lowered his weapon and reached for his canteen of water, taking a swig of refreshing liquid. "We must be in the middle of the day seeing as there's such little shade around here. It definitely makes the heat a lot more noticeable." He took a brief glance up at the sun which hung in the sky, sitting directly above them, thus confirming his suspicion.

O'Neill resisted the urge to have a drink or sit down until they had made it out of the canyon, but did agree with Daniel that the heat was a killer compared to the air-conditioned gate room at the SGC. "It would have been nice if SG-10 had told us we'd need some SPF 30+ out here. Anyway, let's find that path so we can get out of here before somebody comes to check the gate."

Carter moved to a position in front of O'Neill, scanning the surrounding cliff faces as she went. "SG-10 reported that they'd found the base of the path roughly 100 metres south of the gate." Carter then stared up at the sky and the sun which sat directly above them. "Of course it would be a lot easier if we knew which direction south was."

Teal'c then offered an alternate method of deducing the direction in which they would find the pathway. "Would it not make sense for the pathway to be placed in front of the gate and its Dial Home Device? I believe that we should search in that direction." He raised a hand and pointed in the direction in which they had already begun to move as if to reassert his suggestion.

"Well, it makes sense to me," said Daniel, lending support to his alien friend.

"Me too," said O'Neill. "And I always take that as a good sign. So, we'll call this direction south shall we? Now that we've sorted that out, let's get moving."

The team moved onwards in the same direction, remaining diligent the whole way. However, they didn't have to go far before finding an opening in the canyon wall. The opening was wide enough to comfortably accommodate two people side by side and contained a staircase. It was a simple looking kind of stone staircase that appeared to have been carved into the side of the canyon. Presumably, it had been crafted by the natives of the planet in order to gain access to the gate. Although, why the gate had been placed in a canyon was a mystery to SG-1.

O'Neill stared up at the steep staircase in front of them that led out of the canyon. "They could have said it was a staircase; why call it a path when it's a staircase?"

Carter came to SG-10's defence on their choice of adjectives regarding the matter. "Well sir, to be fair, what did you expect a path leading out of a miles deep canyon to look like?"

The way Carter had phrased that question made him feel stupid and he felt the need to justify the meaning of his original question. "Well to me _path_ implied some sort of windy, zigzagging, low angle of incline type ramp that wrapped its way up the canyon wall."

The four members of SG-1 went back to looking up and along the length of the stone staircase. It was fairly high and even more alarmingly, fairly steep. It didn't look impossible to climb but it did look as though it'd provide the team with a bit of a workout. Finally their silence was broken when Teal'c spoke up.

"O'Neill, do you fear that you will not be able to support yourself on the journey out?"

O'Neill shot Teal'c a harsh stare that was a mixture of contempt and embarrassment. Although Teal'c spoke with genuine concern, O'Neill still registered his words as an attack on his masculine pride and ability. "Hey, I can handle that thing just fine, it's just not what I was expecting. It looks like we'll be in a pretty vulnerable position while we're going up though."

The whole team agreed on this, so it was decided that they would not all go up at once. O'Neill would make his way up first, with Carter following about twenty or so steps below him while Daniel and Teal'c remained on the ground to provide cover if it became necessary. Once O'Neill was safely up top he'd then give the all clear for Teal'c to start up and finally Daniel would make his way up once Carter was safely at the top. If the members at the top of the canyon were to be captured then whoever remained at the base were to run back to the gate and report back to General Hammond.

With the plan sorted, Jack walked to the base of the stone staircase and raised his right leg up onto the first step. Before he continued though, he took a look back over his shoulder at Daniel and Teal'c. "Make sure that you keep an eye out on things down here too. There's still a good chance that we could get attacked from down here seeing as we don't know what's at either end of this thing."

Daniel replied in an appreciative but light-hearted way. "You don't need to worry about us Jack, you just keep focused on not slipping on one of those steps. I'd hate for you to have to start all over again."

O'Neill turned back to the stairs and began his upward bound journey, looking at the top of the canyon above him. "I wish I brought my Slinky, it would've been a hell of a sight to see it tumbling down."

* * *

**A/N:** **Fantomo** here. So, what do you think of our first chapter? Updates will be sporadic as we're both busy with other things, so please don't expect weekly updates or anything. Let us know what you think in a review!

Constructive criticism is highly appreciated! If there's something you think either of us could improve on then let us know. Flames will be used for the BBQ as they're good for little else.


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